Sunita to visit India next month

The Indian-American astronaut's uncle says she will tour her ancestral village in Gujarat during her visit to India.

Indian-American astronaut Sunita Williams, who set a record for the longest stay in space by a woman, would visit India next month and tour her ancestral village in Gujarat's Mehsana district, her uncle said on Tuesday.

Vithal Pandya said Sunita Willams "will be coming to Gujarat around September 20. It is a social visit because when Haren (former Gujarat Minister and Vithal's son) was killed, she was away training at NASA and could not make it to his funeral. This visit will allow her to pay homage to Haren".

Vithal said that during her brief visit with her father, Sunita will also visit her ancestral village Jhulasan in Mehsana district of North Gujarat.

Though the exact itinerary of Williams' visit is yet to be worked out, she plans to visit some scientific institutions in Hyderabad and Chennai.

Vithal, who came into the limelight by accusing the Narendra Modi government of having a hand in Haren Pandya's killing, said though Gujarat government has not done anything to honour Sunita, "we do not want to make her visit a political issue".